Commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, who was planning to kill all the Jews. This took place in the ancient Persian Empire. The story is recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther, read out twice during the holiday. In the 5th century BCE, the Persian king Achashverosh married a Jewish girl, Esther, who did not reveal her identity. Haman, a high-ranking advisor in the king’s court got the king to issue a decree whereby all the Jews living in the empire must be annihilated. Esther asked his uncle, Mordechai, to help. The Persian Jews were saved and took revenge on their enemies.